6 Weeks Already

It is hard to believe that 6 weeks has gone by. I'm sorry for the gap with no posts, life sure has been hectic. Lots has happened in the last few weeks. I returned back to work for two very busy  weekends! The hospital was hopping and Angie was just as busy at home with Liam....But obviously all three of us survived. We also started to give Liam milk via the bottle. The first attempt at this was difficult and we had to trick him into taking the bottle. After that first time, he has taken to it like a pro. This has been a blessing to Angie as it has given her opportunity to go out, get longer periods of sleep, or just to take a break. It has also been fun for me to get to take care of him a little more.

This past weekend Liam took his first road trip. We went down to West Palm Beach to see his Uncle Curt get married. It was supposed to be an 8 hour trip there. Liam did absolutely wonderful. He slept the majority of the way and woke up at about feeding times. We bottle fed him in his car seat and then stopped to eat, gas up, burp him, and change him. All and all having Liam along only added about a half hour. The problem was that someone decided that I95 would be a great place to shoot someone! We were no where near the trouble......because they shut down the whole interstate. After we figured out a new route and took it, it had added about 2 hours onto the trip down.

Liam seemed to enjoy West Palm, his Uncle Curt (who may I add was QUITE excited to meet Liam), his new Auntie Melissa, and his new extended Columbian family(Melissa's family). They were wonderful and just loved Liam. He got so much spanish baby talk to him I think he'll automatically have Spanish as a second language! Also, Liam got to see Grandpa and Grandma Rapp again! Or should I say that the other way around! Liam definitely enjoyed his time with Grandma and Grandpa, there is a video on the smugmug page.

3 Weeks Old!

Today Liam is three weeks old! He is definitely changing. Everyday he seems to look different. Since the last post not much has happened. Liam still does the typical eat, sleep, poop, and cry. His nights are getting better. He is going to bed easier and a lot of the time he sleeps sound until it is time to be fed, usually about 3-4 hours. Last week we took Liam and the dogs out on a walk. Liam seemed to enjoy being out and about and the dogs got rid of some energy. We also took many outings to stores and whatnot. Liam usually cries hysterically when we put him in his car seat but as soon as that car starts moving he is content as can be. Before my Mom left we all went out to eat for lunch. We were nervous that we would be "that couple" who has a baby that just won't shut up! Fortunately after some initial fussiness and a diaper change Liam decided to be content in his carrier at the restaurant. Yesterday our family help officially left very early in the morning. After two weeks here my Mom went back to Erie. It turned out to be a very good day for our first day without help. We also ventured out to church with Liam from the first time. It was great to get back to church and to be able to see friends again, some of whom we haven't gotten to see in weeks! Liam did great in church. The first beat of worship scared him and he jumped a little but after that he just went back to sleep. There was only one moment he looked like he might cry but luckily didn't. After the service he decided to wake up to show of his blue eyes. Wednesday is our small group and we plan on going to that with him. Unfortunately I (Shawn) have to return to work this coming Friday.

GRANDPARENTS

This weekend was the weekend of GRANDPARENTS......Liam is the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Won't he be spoiled..um I mean showered with love. Especially since I (Shawn) am an only child. Pam (Angie's mom) was here before Liam's birth, anxiously waiting his arrival and was luckily able to be here for the birth. It was great to have family in town for that moment. Chuck (Angie's dad) came down on Friday the 13th and stayed the weekend. While they were here Liam got his first bath. He did surprisingly well and actually seemed to enjoy it. We also realized that a bath with lavender baby soap=one conked out baby. After his bath Liam was dead to the world for longer than we've seen yet!

Sunday morning Angie's parents left and about 2 1/2 hours later my parents arrived. They were quite excited to finally see this grandchild that they had been hearing about for almost a week! My mom held Liam in the glider chair and read him his first story, "God Gave us You". We followed Liam's lead and just crashed the rest of the day since my parents flight left Erie quite early in the morning. My dad gets to stay about a week and my mom is able to stay about two weeks.

After A Few Days

Sorry for the few days of silence. Days have run together and there hasn't been a whole lot of sleep. The days have been great and the nights have improved slightly. All of our first night home(Wednesday) Angie was on feeding patrol and I was on screaming patrol. Liam slept very very little so as expected....neither did we. If he was not being held, he was not happy! The second night gave us slightly more sleep. Liam wasn't as fussy and slept better as long as one of us was holding him. Friday morning we went to the pediatrician for Liam's first Dr.'s visit. The Dr. said that he was looking great. At first it looked like he was sitting a little below his discharge weight but they re-weighed him on a different scale and she told us it was good. She was also concerned that he was a little more jaundiced. You could definitely tell in his eyes. She sent us down the road to St. Francis to have a bilirubin level drawn. He did wonderful while his blood was being drawn. The level came back acceptable. We go back to the pediatrician a week from Tues. Last night(Friday) seemed like a godsend. Both Angie and I were able to get some better quality sleep. Liam actually slept for 1 1/2 hours in his crib!

Liam's Homecoming

Last night we were able to get some good sleep to get ready for our first day home. The day started out rough for Liam because they did his circumcision this morning. Needless to say, once the medicine they gave him wore off he hasn't been a happy camper! The pediatrician says that he is looking good and his weight is in the norms. We will see her again on Friday. Once he was set, we got him all buckled in and headed home. It has been a rough day for all in the Mayle household.....Except for Shadow (our cat), who I'm not sure has noticed the new member of the Mayle Clan. Liam has cried since we have been home probably more than he did in the hospital. Hopefully this will tire him our for the night......but probably not! Liam was home for a while before the dogs were introduced to him. For those who don't know we have a boxer (Griffon) and a pug/beagle mix (Bailey). They have been doing GREAT so far (Please pray this only improves!). They both get quite concerned when Liam cries, and Griffon, our to-be gentle giant who does not yet know he's giant, usually wants to investigate. Every now and then Griffon needs to be reminded to "Leave It!" as he seems to like to lick babies' heads!

Liam's First Day!

Today has been a good day. The pediatrician came in early this morning to check Liam out. She said that he looks great and was surprised at how alert he was. He has been pretty a pretty mellow little guy for the majority of the day. We have had visitors throughout the day. It was great to see friends and show off our new baby boy! Angie continues to do well. Tomorrow we are expecting to get to go home!

Liam's Arrival

On February 9th we went to our doctors for one last visit and to schedule our induction. On the way home from scheduling our induction Angie started noticing contractions. Liam obviously didn't want to wait until Wednesday (Thank the Lord!). When we got home at about 11:45 it was becoming quite clear that Angie was going into labor. After playing the Wii for a while, the contractions got closer together so we called the Doctor. By the time we got back to the office contractions were 4-5 min apart for about 1 1/2 hours. After the doctor saw us we went straight downstairs (The office is in the hospital). When we were admitted Angie was about 3cm dilated. The Dr. broke her water and started Angie on a pitocin drip. About 6pm Angie was ready for her epidural, and boy did she love that! By about 8:30 Angie was already 9cm dilated and 15 minutes later the pushing began. Angie was great! She pushed for about 40 minutes and little Liam entered the world! He weighed in at 8.0 lbs and measured 20.5 inches.